After crying and prancing angrily around in circles like a child trying to shake the water off his hands, Pickering mused with tears clouding his eyes, "''I hope his remarks are not the kind of insults, slander and defamation that Mississippians will come to expect from the Democrat leadership in Washington, D.C."

Slander? A question is slander?

Boohoo. Perhaps Pickering hasn't been in politics for the last decade or so--from a quick glance at his track record that certainly appears to be the case. I'd like to take this moment to teach Pickering a little lesson about slander, defamation and insults.

His party, the party of Halliburton, has invested hundreds of millions in company spokespeople who make a living slandering those of us who live in the North, those of us who live on the West Coast and those of us who live on the East Cost.

The corporate party that Pickering faithfully obeys has libeled and slandered my friends and my family and my people and my part of the country for 10 years now. They've attacked us and they've attacked our way of life and we have stood patiently by hoping that Pickering and his people would eventually grow up.

They've slammed us because we embrace freedom; they've slammed us because we tolerate all of God's children who obey the laws we've ordained through democracy rather than through the INTERPRETATION of one minister who can't even practice what he preaches against. They've slammed us and they've slammed us and they've slammed us.

They've drawn parallels between us and the French, us and the terrorists; us and the communists; and us and Mark Foley. They've attacked and attacked and attacked. They've suggested that our love for democracy and our contempt of government handouts to Halliburton amounts to a mental disorder.

So Charley Rangel merely asked, "Who the hell wants to live in Mississippi?" That's not even a statement about Mississippi. That's not "Mississippi breeds only demons and terrorists who want to overrun our country." That's a question that Pickering must have given some thought to, and he must have come up with an answer that disappointed him. Had Pickering immediately thought, "Shucks...lot's of people want to live in Mississippi, Charley," it would have signaled that Pickering was an optimist, proud of his state and ready with an answer.

"Who the hell wants to live in Mississippi?" Is that what passes for slander in the Republican Party? The f-in Republican Party? Perhaps Charley was getting ready to drive a bus down to the Magnolia State to deliver any would-be transplants from the Big Apple. "Hey, you guys, who the hell wants to live in Mississippi!?!? Right? Yeah! Let's go!" He was implying that they made a lot of money.

Slander? Hmmm. Sounds more like Pickering is trying to score political points. If Pickering has a problem with slander he ought to disavow George Bush, Dick "Go F**k Yourself" Cheney, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ken Mehlman, and every other Republican who has made a career attacking and trying to destroy the lifestyles of Northerners and people in costal states.

In addition to the bio below, Dean Powers would like to add that he makes no money for all this fine work on behalf of the Democratic Party. He would like you to note how quickly he churned out this response to Pickering's comments. Do you run a campaign? paying blog? war room? Want his help? Look up his email at his blog listed below.